do you punish your older kids....so that your younger kids learn?

I'm not sure about the study report part....but I definitely will not punish one child to set an example for the other child. It doesn't work that way (atleast in my case)...one child ends up resenting the parent and the other ends up taking advantage.
I punish each child depending on what the act or wrong doing is...and sometimes both get similar punishments for the same act and sometimes different punishments (depending on what works for each child).
My kids are 6 years apart...and I know that time out worked well for my older son when he was younger...but it does not work with my younger one and I use different punishment for him.
But I make sure to tell my older son that the younger one is learning from his behaviour...so he has to be careful what he does when he is around the little one....what is appropriate for the older one might not be appropriate for the younger one. There is no point in punishing the older one just to teach the younger one a lesson. But it teaches the older one to be responsible if he is asked to think before doing something.

I fully DISAGREE with it....I punish my kids (both of them) because they've done something wrong..it has absolutely NOTHING to do with my younger child at all..Partly because I think thats nonsense and partly because they are two completely different ppl..

NO I punish my child to set them an example of how they should or shouldnt behave its to show them the lesson to be learnt no one else.

I dont think punishing a child just to set an example is right it could make you go over the top and thats never good. Obviously if a sibling sees the punishment it might make them think I shouldnt do that but then they all make mistakes so if its not that particualr wrong doing it would be something else.

Its best to punish the act accordingly and then move on away from it and give them chance to show they can be trusted not to make the same mistake twice

Well, when my older kids do something wrong, they get punishment. Punishment is more like being grounded from several priveleges they already have. It naturally sets the example for the young one. So in my case, when the young one does something wrong, she already knows that she will have her own punishment.

I don't think i would agree with this report of punishing the older kids to set an example for the younger ones. I say this is because it depends on the age as well. If the older one is a teenager and the things he/she does and is being punished, probably the younger ones ( if they are in the age of between 7 - 12 ), they may not understand it and may not have much effect of them at all.
Kids at different age view things differently as these are part and parcel of the development stages in children from birth till young adults. So, I would believe taht using proper reasoning methods would be more effective to teach or set examples for the younger ones.

I don't really agree, no. I have an 18 year old, a 16 year old, and a 4 year old. The older two were 12 and 13 when I became part of their lives. This means that I did not have a hand in establishing certain expectations, guidelines, and habits, so I was working 'backwards' as it were. From what I know, the older two did not have certain normal responsibilities that are essential to learning how to take care of yourself and your things when they were little. This is why it's been so hard to teach them and get them to do these things for themselves. My four year old puts all her clothes in the laundry, hangs up her towels, puts her dishes in the sink, throws away her trash. She does put away her toys with supervision too. I have always taught her that you always clean up any mess you make, and you take good care of your things or they will get broken - or they will no longer be your things because you mistreated them so mommy took them away.

If any of the kids get in trouble, it is known as natural consequences. They all know what behaviors are unacceptable, and what will happen in response - such as, you stay up too late and sleep through your alarm and miss the bus, then YOU get to explain to the school why you weren't there. It isn't mom's responsibility, mom told you to go to bed, and also to set your alarm. If you don't take care of your dishes and you ate dinner in your room, then you get to deal with cleaning it up later and any bugs or other critters that visited, not mom or dad. If you don't feel like doing your laundry, nobody else is going to do it for you, and when you complain that you don't have any clean clothes, not my problem.

I think if anything, the youngest gets away with way LESS than the older ones did, but she doesn't realize it because she's never experienced anything different. She is also proud of being able to do things for herself - and she gets more privelages and freedom as a result. The rules are the same for all of them, the only differences are based on age and/or maturity. I say that because even at 18, the oldest sometimes makes me question things I let her do. The youngest may be capable at a younger age, based on what she handles now. I could literally not leave the older two at home together when they were 13/14. I hope not to have this problem with my four year old.

I can't speak on the report but it sounds stupid to punish one kid as an example to another. Cruel even. Why aren't we punishing because the child deserves it? And why would the younger ones get by with things because they're younger? That sounds stupid too. Sorry to overuse the word "stupid" but ya know.. it's stupid LOL

If that's the way parenting is going.. oh someone needs to save this world right now.

Yes That happened in my family Season,
My parents were very strict with me when I was a kid. I was the eldest at home. They brought me up in the strictest way possible to show the other siblings ( one sister and one brother ) the correct way. Only I turned up as to my parents expectations. Both the others went their own way. My father accepted his mistake some days before his death and apologised. He was feeling very bad. But for me everything turned out very nice.

No I will never go in favor of this. The study report must have been based upon response from few persons.

I'd like to see that report. Is it online somewhere?

To answer some of your questions, I'll say this...I don't agree that younger ones engage in more risky behavior because they know what they can get away with.

I think it depends on the individual person and their nature (or personality).

I'm the youngest of four. My parents were not overly stict. I think I got into the least trouble.

It was not because I saw my older siblings "punished". Actually it was mostly out of guilt. My mother told me some stories about my olders sisters and brothers and about how much their behavior had hurt her. Because of that, I tried to avoid hurting her in the same way. I avoided that somewhat by staying out of trouble, but also by keeping things from her and not being completely open with her.

I also don't think it's a good idea to punish older siblings in order to "set an example" for younger siblings.

If you punish a child, it is to teach that child a lesson. Not to use them as an example.

Now, if the other children happen to learn, by observing, then, thats great! But I don't think anyone should ever be used as an example to others.
That's just degrading and would cause resentment.